The Story of Nada
by xHiddenMoonx
Summary: She was getting exactly what she wanted. But nothing will ever be the same.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_War. War never changes._

_Since the dawn of human kind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything: from God to justice to simple, psychotic rage._

_In the year 2077, after millennia of armed conflict, the destructive nature of man could sustain itself no longer. The world was plunged into an abyss of nuclear fire and radiation._

_But it was not, as some had predicted, the end of the world. Instead, the apocalypse was simply the prologue to another bloody chapter of human history. For man had succeeded in destroying the world - but war, war never changes._

_In the early days, thousands were spared the horrors of the holocaust by taking refuge in enormous underground shelters, known as vaults. But when they emerged, they had only the hell of the wastes to greet them - all except those in Vault 101. For on that fateful day, when fire rained from the sky, the giant steel door of Vault 101 slid closed... and never reopened. It was here you were born. It is here you will die._

_Because, in Vault 101: no one ever enters, and no one ever leaves._

…

Nada was born on July 13, 2258 to James and Catherine Newberrie. Nada remembered her father always telling her that her name meant "hope", and her mother had started calling her that since the day she found out she was pregnant, despite James' protests that the baby might be a boy. However, she felt it in her gut that she was going to be a girl, and she, like so many other times, was right.

They were both very talented scientists and doctors, and they were caring, compassionate, and kind. But despite all this, unforeseen complications had arose during Nada's birth, and Catherine had tragically died of cardiac arrest shortly afterward. So, James had to raise Nada all by himself. James never remarried anyone or looked for another partner, as he only had love for his late wife.

Nada had been raised comfortably in the isolated walls of Vault 101, a pre-war bomb shelter that's doors had been sealed shut for two hundred years. As she grew, Nada was taught a wide variety of different subjects that she didn't think would ever prove useful to her, but it still gave her something to do in this boring place. James made sure to raise her right, though, and she gained the same traits that her parents had: loyalty, honesty, compassion… But Nada still longed for something more.

Because of this constant boredom, Nada liked to read anything that she could get her hands on. Most of the books were just children stories and comic books, but occasionally she was able to snag a pre-war history book or a fictitious fantasy novel. This further fed her want to leave the vault and find out what was really out there.

She also liked to read her mother's favorite biblical passage, which James kept hung up in their apartment and his office.

_I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely._

James was the lead physician in Vault 101 because of his expertise in science and medicine. The vault's Overseer, Alphonse Almodavar, had appointed him this position for this very reason. Because of this position, James quickly became an important figure to the vault residents. However, James and Alphonse never really were on good terms with each other. James was free-spirited and open minded, whereas Alphonse was strict and narrow-sighted. These ideals would often cause them to go into a very loud debate, but these encounters had never turned violent. They clearly didn't like each other.

The vault dwellers had all grown to trust James with their families. Everyone looked to him as the protector of life, which every doctor is in a manner of speaking. They placed the lives of themselves and their families in his hands. Alphonse, however, did not share this trust with the others and would often stand in the room when Amata, Alphonse's daughter, was being examined, breaking doctor-patient confidentiality.

While the two adults went on with their constant bickering, their children grew to become friends. Alphonse's daughter, Amata, was a happy and cheery child who'd also grown up without a mother due to her dying from an illness two years after Amata's birth. Because of this shared experience, this made the pair's bond tighten, and you didn't often see one without the other.

Nada had grown to be a little bit of a rebel in the overseer's eyes. She laughed too loud, played to roughly with the others, and she would run down the vault's hallways despite everyone telling her to stop. Like her father, Nada was a free spirit, untamed, and she was pure and unaffected by the world around her. Nada had grown to be kind and caring in nature, almost motherly. But she was also very opinionated, and spoke her mind whenever she felt like things were unfair. Sometimes physical fights would break out, and she would be restrained and taken to the overseer's office, much to her father's displeasure.

As Nada grew, she began to look more like her mother and less like her father. She was an average sized girl with a slightly curvy figure, dark brown eyes, and her blonde hair was messily unkempt as she tried to frustratingly grow it out to the length of Amata's hair. The only thing that differed her from her mother was her ghostly pale skin, which she hated. Living in a vault, however, there was no hope of her ever getting a darker complexion. Amata had taught Nada how to pick locks, so that they could meet up after curfew. Amata wanted to learn everything Nada knew, since Nada always found a way to get ahold of books that were banned. So, they did this in secret, trading books and reading to each other.

Nada's tenth birthday came and went, as they always do, but Nada will never forget how badly she'd kicked Butch's butt when he tried to take her sweet roll. That was a great memory that she always liked to bring up when Butch tried to start things with her. However, the best present she'd ever received was from her father and his assistant, Jonas Palmer. They'd both set up a shooting range for her in the deepest level of the vault and had given her her very own BB gun. And even though Nada could never get her shots right, she appreciated it all the same.

When Nada had become sixteen, the day came when she needed to take the G.O.A.T. exam in the vault. This test was going to determine what kind of job Nada was going to have for the rest of her life in the vault, so James was very adamant and pushed her to do great on it, naturally.

However, Nada didn't seem to care too much about it. She sat quietly in her father's office as he examined her. He had his hand lightly on her cheek, and he held an optometer up to her eye. After doing a full inspection on her, he set his instruments aside and crossed his arms over his chest.

"As far as I can tell, you're a perfectly healthy sixteen-year-old girl, so yes, you need to go to class and take your G.O.A.T. exam," He let out a sigh as Nada hung her head and slumped her shoulders, "Go on, now; You've got a test to take."

"But Dad I want to choose my job myself," Nada whined, placing a hand over her heart.

James looked at her sharply, and his voice became slightly more stern, "Hey, it's not my call. Those are the rules. You're sixteen now, so this year you've got to take the G.O.A.T.," Nada folded her arms and opened her mouth to say something. James cut her off, "Come on, Nada, it's not so bad. Everyone has to do it, even I did it. I'm sure you'll do just fine."

Nada shook her head and rubbed the back of her neck, "Anything you can tell me about the G.O.A.T. would be appreciated."

James unfolded his arms. "The Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test. G.O.A.T.! Everyone in the vault has to take it when they turn sixteen," James explained. "Helps to figure out what kind of job you'll have here in the vault in a couple of years. So, pay attention and try not to doze off in class this time."

Nada rolled her eyes at her father. It wasn't her fault that class was boring and she found her doodles more interesting than taking notes.

"You know what they say, honey: 'We're born in the vault, we die in the vault.'" James began the monologue, "'Each is tested to determine their abilities, that they may work for the betterment of all Vault residents.' Sound familiar?"

"Sure, Dad." Nada sighed. It was probably the only thing the Overseer said over the intercom every twenty minutes. Nada looked outside the office window to make sure no one was listening before quietly speaking, "We don't _have _to die here do we? I want to get out of this cage…"

James frowned at her and quickly spoke, "That's not the way it works, Nada. And don't go around telling that to other people. Especially Amata or the Overseer. Who knows how he'll react if he hears you say something like that."

Nada winced a little and looked away from him and to the floor. Her hands clasped behind her back. James softened his gaze and pulled his daughter close to him, grabbing her chin to pull her face up. Once she was looking at him, he held her hands in his.

"I want to tell you something now. It's important, so I need you to listen this one time…" Nada frowned slightly but kept staring into her father's eyes as he spoke, "This place, this vault… it's not perfect, I know, nowhere is ever going to be perfect. But you need to understand that this is your home. You will be safe here. If you do as you're told and stay on everyone's good side, then you won't have to worry. Try to appreciate what you have here."

Nada nodded in agreement.

"What's up there, on the outside, that's not the life I want for you, and I know it's not what your mother wanted for you, either."

Nada shook herself out of his grasp. "But, Dad, how can you just live down here in these boxed walls and just _accept _it? What if we run out of food and water? We can't just stay locked away."

James got a distant look in his eyes before speaking, "Nada, that's just the way it has to be for now. We have plenty of supplies, so don't worry. Please, sweetie…Just trust me. You don't want to know what's out there."

Nada furrowed her eyebrows at him questioningly, but she didn't press any further. Instead, she looked passed him at the wall, where a familiar picture frame was hung up with a single biblical quote.

_I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely._

"Dad…Is it okay…Can we talk about Mom?"

The question struck James by surprise. Nada never seemed to want to know anything about her. He got a sad look in his eyes as he began to explain, "Your mother she…she was beautiful. But…beyond the beauty that you've seen. There's just so much those old photos can never show. You're starting to look so much like her."

Nada blushed and her father continued, "And she was passionate. About life, about love. But, most of all, most of all she was passionate about you. When she became pregnant, it was the happiest I had ever seen her…" James brought his hands up to his face and rubbed his eyes. "She had great things planned out for you."

Nada smiled and nodded. She wished that there could've been some way to save her mother. Not having a motherly figure in her life had been hard for her, and there was a constant void in her soul that she knew could never be filled.

James cleared his throat and hardened his expression, "Now, I know you're just stalling, so get to class! Take this achievement test seriously, honey, please? The last thing I need is your mother's ghost haunting me because her only child became a garbage burner."

Nada laughed and gave her dad a peck on the cheek, "Bye, Dad."

"Take care, Sweetie. And don't worry, you're going to do fine."

Nada stretched out her arms and checked her Pip-Boy 3000. It was a device that she'd received on her tenth birthday, and it was required for her to keep it on her arm at all times, except when showering and sleeping. It was a very helpful device that could hook up to any computer and download files onto its "Notes" tab. It also had a function called "Med-Tec Scan" which would show its users medical needs and other vitals, such as radiation amount and how much food and water they need. It also showed a map of the vault, a radio system, and it showed the date and time in the upper right-hand corner.

Nada sighed as she took note of the G.O.A.T. before walking out of her father's office.

As Nada approached her classroom, she saw Amata just outside the entrance surrounded by Butch and his little "gang", Wally Mack and Paul Hannon Jr. Butch leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and was mocking Amata, making perverted comments that made Nada want to gag. When Paul and Nada locked eyes with each other, Paul looked away. Nada could tell what he was thinking, and she was going to give it to him bad later. She couldn't believe that he was still hanging out with them.

Nada approached the group and crossed her arms, glaring at Butch. "Butch!"

"Hey, look. It's smart mouth. I don't have time for your fancy words right now. So beat it," Butch said, waving his hand at her.

"What the fuck are you doing to my friend?"

"None of your business, kid. Get outta here before you get hurt," Butch replied cheekily, "If you mess with the Tunnel Snakes, you're asking for it. Got me?"

"_I'll _get hurt? You must be mistaken because I'm the one who always beats your ass," Nada smirked as she saw Paul try to conceal a smile. "If you mess with her, you know what'll happen."

"And who are you? Her girlfriend? Ha! Should've known…" Butch had started popping his knuckles. "Keep talking like that, girl, and we'll send you back to your daddy with a few broken bones for him to fix."

"Fine, Butch, let's go at it. You and me. Right here, right now."

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Butch laughed.

Before he could say anything else, Nada's fist collided directly with Butch's jaw. He stumbled a little but quickly straightened up. Nada then rammed her fist lower so she could punch him in the groin. Butch grabbed a fistful of her hair and began punching her in the stomach. She reached up and clawed at his face, leaving ugly red lines down his cheeks.

Hearing the ruckus, their teacher, Edwin Brotch, ran out into the hallway to quickly separate the fight. Mr. Brotch grabbed Butch and flung him to the other side of the hallway yelling, "Get to class, Butch!"

Nada felt a pair of strong arms lift her up as she tried to break free and fight Butch. She kicked and screamed as she was restrained. Mr. Brotch came foreword and grabbed her legs forcing her to calm down. Nada glared at Paul as he held her close to him, and she jerked her elbow back, hitting him in his groin. He doubled over in pain and Mr. Brotch grabbed Nada's shoulders.

"Enough, Miss Newberrie!" Edwin shouted, "This is the third time this month you and DeLoria have fought!"

"Hey, it's not my fault!" Nada defended herself, "He was making comments to Amata, being the pervert he is, I had to do something!"

"She's telling the truth," Amata joined in, "He started it."

"Will everyone just calm down?" Mr. Brotch held his hands up between the two. "Now, we all have a G.O.A.T. to take then we can all go home and relax. Just get to class and chill out."

Butch muttered something under his breath as Wally followed him into class. Paul gave a guilty look to Nada as she glared daggers at him. Oh yeah, she telepathically relayed to him, you're gonna get it later. He quickly shoved past her and followed his gang. Amata gave an apologetic look at Nada as she approached her.

"Sorry about that," Amata said.

"Don't be sorry," Nada said, furrowing her eyebrows, "He got what he deserved."

"Well, thanks for getting rid of them," Amata smiled at her. "They're such assholes. I don't know what they want with me. I think it's because my father's the Overseer."

"Well, they're idiots."

"You can say that again."

The pair walked into class side-by-side and took their seats on the right side of the classroom. Nada's seat was in the front row, so that the teacher could keep an eye on her. Amata's seat was right behind her. Brotch explained the rules of the test as he passed out the papers. He administered the test by verbally stating the question while showing a slide of the hypothetical situation the question called for.

Nada could already tell that this test was a complete joke. All of the questions were so far fetched and unrealistic, and the answers that were provided were so silly. She just started circling random answers. Until she got to the last question. She smiled to herself and she doodled a little unflattering picture of the Overseer next to the question.

One after the other, the students turned in their tests, but Nada stayed behind. Amata, of course, got a job in the supervisory track in a position right under her father. Butch, oddly enough, got a job as a hairdresser. Nada made a mental note to never ask for his services.

In the end, Freddie Gomez and she were the only two that'd stayed behind. After convincing himself for the thirteenth time that he'd done everything correctly, he turned in his exam and was happy with the results.

Mr. Brotch raised a brow at Nada, who was still doodling on her sheet. He stood from his desk and approached her.

"Having fun, Miss Newberrie?" he teased.

"Loads." she sighed, "This test was a joke. Are we being pranked or something?"

"You never shut that big mouth of yours do you?"

"You haven't put the pieces together yet?"

Brotch paused for a while and glanced outside the door. "Listen, I like your dad kid, and I might even like you if you weren't such a brat," Nada snorted, "You can have a bright future ahead of you. Brighter than mine. I hate this test too. I never wanted to be a teacher."

Nada raised her eyebrows at him. She didn't think teachers had souls.

Brotch smiled at her, "So just tell me what job you want, and I'll take care of it for you."

There was a pregnant pause as Nada considered his offer. She got a wide smile on her face.

"…Okay."

"Alright," Mr. Brotch began, "Tell me what you're good at."

"Well, I'm actually kind of interested in teaching…" Nada blushed when Mr. Brotch snickered. "No, I'm serious. I've been meeting with Amata at night and teaching her all kinds of different things that aren't aloud in the vault. I'd really like to extend that knowledge to everyone else."

Brotch smiled. "I'll see what I can do for you."

Nada gave him a genuine smile, "Thank you, sir. I look foreword to working alongside you and Susie."

"Yeah, yeah. Just get outta here."

Nada left the classroom with the biggest smile on her face. Nothing was going to bring her down.

…

However, happiness doesn't last forever.

Nada went to one of the more secluded parts of the vault. She was starting to get a little annoyed with the turn of events that'd happened that day. She waited, leaning against the wall and twirling a strand of hair around her finger. She couldn't wait there long. She had to meet Amata at the diner to get something to eat. Finally, the person she'd been waiting for had shown up.

Paul Hannon Jr. approached her with an "innocent" smile on his face.

"Hey, baby," he flirted, placing his hands on her waist.

He tried to lean down to give her a kiss, but she pushed him away with a disgusted look on her face. "Don't 'Hey, baby,' me. Do you understand how pissed off I am at you?"

He frowned slightly at her words, "Butch and Wally are my friends. You know I have to back them up."

"I'm your fucking girlfriend!"

Paul rubbed the back of his neck. "I know. And I love you, I mean we've been with each other for one and a half years, but if I don't stand with them, they're going to come down on me just as hard as they do on everyone else."

"That's not okay with me, Paul. Amata's my friend. You said that you would get them to stop harassing her."

"And I've tried, baby, but you know how they are. They're starting to get suspicious with me."

"Then let them. I don't care. You're a good guy and you don't need to be getting into trouble with them."

Paul smiled hopefully at her, "Well, we're all going our separate ways now because of the G.O.A.T. and all. We'll probably be too busy with work to be able to do all our "gang" shit."

"What are you talking about?" Nada raised a brow. "Everyone barely ever does their jobs. They always have time to just stand around."

There was a long awkward pause. Paul looked at his feet and Nada twirled a lock of hair impatiently.

"I hate it that we have to hide our relationship," Paul finally said.

Nada threw up her hands, annoyed. "That was your plan. Not mine."

She turned to leave, but Paul grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. "Come on, baby. You know I love you. And nothing will ever change that."

She slapped his hand away when he'd brought it up to her face, "You don't love me enough, apparently."

"Don't be like that," he frowned, "You know there's nothing we can do about this."

"Yes, there is!" she argued, "You can stop being a little bitch and actually _tell _them that we're together!"

Paul looked at her for a few seconds and smiled, leaning down and kissing her neck. "I promise, I'll fix this."

She sighed. She didn't even know if she really loved Paul. Sure, the make out sessions were great and all, but she wasn't sure if Paul was someone that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Then again, the vault residency was so low that she really didn't have much of a choice but to accept what was given to her.

Reason number three hundred and ninety two why she hated the vault.

She put on her fakest smile and tip toed a little higher to give Paul a peck on the lips. "Thank you, baby. I knew you'd come through for me."

He smiled triumphantly and leaned down to continue kissing her. She returned it for a few minutes before pushing him away, gently.

"I've gotta go, Paul," she smiled, "I'm meeting Amata for lunch, so I'll see you later."

She gave Paul one more kiss on the lips before leaving to go meet up with Amata.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Two Years Later...**

Nada was awoken early in the morning by her frantic friend, Amata. She usually looked tidy and put together, buttonight she was paler than usual and her hair was pulled up messily behind her head. Nada slowly blinked, at first she thought she was dreaming and didn't hear the loud blaring sirens all around her. Then she started to notice that she was just in her underwear and a tank top, and she brought her covers up to her collarbones, her cheeks becoming red with embarrassment.

"What the hell, Amata?"

"Snap out of it, Nada! You have to get up…Now!"

Amata grabbed Nada's hands and pulled her forcefully out of bed. Nada stood there awkwardly, crossing her arms and legs. She wasn't wearing a bra, after all.

"Amata, what's going on?"

Amata ran over to Nada's dresser and pulled out a Vault 101 jumpsuit, tossing it over to Nada.

"Jesus, put something on!" Nada clumsily grabbed the jumpsuit and started to slip inside. "You have to get out of here. Your dad's gone and my father's men are looking for you!"

Nada's face became pale and the sirens slowly began to register in her mind. She stared at Amata wide eyed and her mouth was agape, "What are you talking about? My dad can't have left. That's impossible, the door's sealed shut!"

"I don't know what to tell you, Nada!" Amata yelled, "Your dad just left and my dad's gone totally crazy!"

"Amata, I've never seen you like this? What's happened?" Nada asked. She brought her hands up to Amata's shoulders but she lifted her arms annoyed.

"Jonas is dead!" Amata's eyes filled with tears and spilled over her cheeks. "Officer Mack just…kept on beating him and beating him. I just…there was nothing I could do, Nada…"

Nada felt a strong pain in her chest, and time seemed to slow down around her. Her mouth hung open and she just stood there completely frozen, the sirens and Amata's sobbing seemed distant now. Eventually, she snapped out of her distressed state and started twirling her hair. "There's nothing you could've done, Amata. I don't blame you." She took Amata's hand in hers and that made Amata calm down. "What do I have to do? What's the plan?"

Amata wiped her cheeks and let out a shuttering breath, "I'm sorry, but I think you have to follow your father. You have to leave the vault or my father's men are going to kill you."

Nada nodded slowly, "Okay, any ideas?

"My dad has a tunnel in his office that leads directly to the vault's entrance. Here's some bobby pins to get into the door, but you'll have to hack the computer in order to open the secret door."

Nada groaned. She was never great with computers.

"Here's my father's pistol. I stole it on my way over here. Hopefully, you won't need to use it."

"Amata, I'm not great with guns. You keep it, you'll probably need it more than me."

Amata nodded, "If you're sure. I've gotta go, but please be careful."

With that, Amata turned and ran out of Nada's apartment. Nada's mind seemed to go at full speed as she grabbed a worn fabric backpack and set to work with collecting items that she thought she would need in the Wasteland. She shoved a few extra jumpsuits into her bag and grabbed the Med-x and Stimpaks out of the apartment's first-aid kit. She grabbed her old baseball bat and her BB gun. Even though she'd never use it, after all it wouldn't be able to kill anything, she wanted to keep it with her as it was a gift. She'd also grabbed her pre-war baseball cap that Stanley had given her and she filled up the rest of her bag with books.

As she'd exited her room, she ran into Officer Kendall. He'd yelled at her, but a few radroaches came and started biting at his ankles. While he was distracted, Nada slipped off into the bathroom across the hall. They were just radroaches, so he'd be able to deal with them. As she was sneaking down the hall, Butch DeLoria ran out of his and his mom's apartment. He grabbed Nada's shoulders and looked into her eyes, shaking her body frantically.

"Good, it's you. You've gotta help me! My mom's trapped in our apartment with the radroaches!"

Nada pushed his hands off her and began walking to his room. Though she didn't care much for Butch, she didn't think that anyone deserved a death by radroaches. She quickly dispatched with the radroaches attacking Ellen and Butch ran in and hugged Nada around her waist, raising her up into the air.

"We did it! My mom's gonna be ok!" he exclaimed. He set Nada down and began taking off his leather jacket. "I know it's not much, but take my Tunnel Snakes jacket."

"You stay safe, Butch," Nada said, taking the jacket and shaking his hand.

He returned the handshake, "You too. I'll see you around."

She threw the jacket on, saluted him with two fingers and left the area, heading up towards the clinic. On her way, she'd ran into Andy, Stanley, and Officer Gomez. Officer Gomez said that he'd pretend he'd never saw her and Stanley allowed her some time to rest in the clinic while he repaired Andy.

Nada entered her father's office, looking around at the completely ransacked area. Her father's computer lay useless on the floor underneath the slanted framed bible quote and all the medical notes and science equipment had been knocked to the floor. She slowly lifted up a chair from the floor and sat down at the desk. She grabbed her father's vault-tec medicine bobble head and read the inscription on the base.

"_The smart man knows a bandage only hides his wounds._"

She gingerly held it in her hands as her vision became blurry with tears. She pulled the small figurine to her chest and let out quiet sobs. She didn't understand anything that was going on. Why her dad left, why Jonas was dead, why she had to leave, it just didn't make sense to her. She slowly tried to calm herself down, she had to get out of here. She stuffed the bobble head into her backpack and looked at the biblical quote hung up on the wall. She wanted to take it with her, so she lifted it up off the hook. When she removed the picture, she stared at what was behind it wide eyed.

Behind the picture was a locked safe. Nada quickly pulled a bobby pin and screwdriver out of her backpack and set to work picking the lock. After breaking three lock picks, she got the safe open. Inside the safe was a schematic for a "Rock-It Launcher", three hundred bottle caps, and an audio clip that had "Home Sweet Home" written on the front of it. Nada folded up the schematics and shoved them into her backpack along with the three hundred bottle caps, not sure on what their use was. She lifted up her pip-boy and slid the audio clip inside.

"_Well, here we are. Nestled all safe and snug inside Vault 101. It's so cold down here. Colder still with Catherine gone… Oh, Catherine… I so wish you were here with me. How the hell am I supposed to do this by myself? Live down in this hole. Take care of our child… but this is our life now, so I guess I'd better get used to it. The Overseer who runs the place is an overbearing bully, but I've dealt with worse._"

The tape ended there, and Nada stared down at her pip-boy curiously. It sounded like James was implying something in his words. Referencing things that Nada didn't quite understand.

We were born and raised in the vault, Nada thought, why is he talking like we'd just arrived?

Nada shook her head and pulled her jacket tighter around her body. She gave Stanley a long hug before leaving the clinic for the last time.

When she'd made it up to the atrium, she ran into Tom and Mary Holden. Tom was saying that "this was their chance to escape" but Mary was hesitant and unsure of what to do. Tom suddenly ran out into the hallway leading to the vault's entrance and was gunned down. Mary tried to run in after him, but Nada grabbed a hold of her and held her back.

"Mary, calm down," Nada whispered, trying to hold her back.

"Tom! No, no, Tom…"

Eventually, Mary gave in and sank to the floor completely broken down and in tears. Nada sat there and held her, gently running her fingers through Mary's hair. She made soft shushing sounds to Mary whenever her sobs got a little too loud and she held her tighter to her body as Mary shook with grief.

"I'm so sorry…" Nada whispered, "I didn't want this to happen…"

"What do I do now?" Mary sobbed, "Tom was my everything…"

Nada held her at arms lengths and looked her dead in the eyes. "Mary, you need to get out of here. Go back to your room. I promise, everything will be back to normal soon."

"No, it won't. Nothing will ever be the same."

Mary pushed herself out of Nada's grip and ran downstairs back to her room, and Nada looked out at the dead body of Tom guiltily. She wished that she could've done something to warn him. She let out a shuddering breath and snuck across the atrium. Worrying about it wasn't going to change what happened.

As she made her way to the upper level of the atrium, she came across Allen Mack in his room looking out from the other side of the glass.

"Hey, you! Don't you run away!" he yelled, banging his fist on the glass. "All of this is your fault! Guards, she's over here!"

In that moment, Paul Hannon Sr. had wondered into the atrium.

"We've been looking for you," Senior stated, brandishing his police baton, "I knew you were never right for my son."

Nada bit her lip, "Just let me go, Mr. Hannon. I just want to leave."

Senior got into a fighting stance, "No, we can't risk the safety of the vault. I'm going to have to take you in, dead or alive, it's up to you."

Nada stepped back quickly as Senior swung his baton at her face.

"Officer Hannon!" Nada exclaimed.

"What you think that you're both better than us? That you guys can just get up and leave whenever you want to?" he swung again, and Nada through up her bat to block the hit. "You're just a little brat! You do whatever you want!"

"Your son and his stupid friends do the same thing!"

"Don't talk about my son like he's a delinquent!" he swung at her again.

Nada noticed an opening, and she swung her bat at his right knee. When he'd doubled over in pain, she took another swing at the side of his head. Nada backed off a bit, trying to show Senior that this was a fight he wouldn't be able to win.

"I don't want to fight you, Officer Hannon," Nada spat, "Now, let me leave!"

Senior glared up at her, with his teeth grit, "I'm going to kill you, bitch!" He dived foreword.

Nada reacted as fast as she could, swinging her bat against his stomach. He leaned forward, completely winded, and her bat collided with the back of his head. The man fell to the floor completely unconscious and bleeding. A pool of dark blood was beginning to pool around the body.

"You monster!" Allen yelled from inside his apartment, "You killed him you heartless fiend!"

Nada dropped her bat and stared down at the lifeless body of Paul Hannon Sr., her boyfriend's father. She brought her hands up to her mouth and her face became pale as bile began to rise at the back of her throat. She bent over and released the contents from her stomach. She couldn't handle everything that was happening today.

Slowly, everything came back, along with Nada's senses. The alarms blared around her and Allen pounded on the glass, yelling abuse at her. She picked up her bat and let out a pained sigh, twirling a piece of her hair around her finger. She had to leave.

She walked away from the bleeding man.

She made her way to the Overseer's office. She'd been to his office more times than she could count, so she knew the way by heart. As she got closer to her destination, she began to hear voices from the interrogation room. She crouched down and looked through the window. Inside was the Overseer, Amata, and Officer Stevie Mack. Stevie had his baton drawn while Amata sat in a chair, her father was interrogating her. Nada couldn't believe what she was seeing. Alphonse was actually making threats to his own daughter.

Nada almost went inside to break it up, but Amata drew her pistol and fired at Stevie Mack, instantly killing him. Amata threw the pistol down and ran out of the room, sobbing into her hands. Her father tried to follow her, but Nada lifted up her bat and knocked him back into the room. She pressed a few buttons on the door's console to lock it shut, keeping him trapped inside.

"You hit me!" Alphonse whined from the other side of the door.

"It didn't kill you, unfortunately," Nada spat.

The Overseer's voice became stern, "You're not going to be as lucky as your father. You won't make it out of here alive."

"Watch me."

Nada left the man in the locked interrogation room while she followed after Amata. As she entered the Administrative office, she saw Jonas' dead body on the ground, completely battered and bruised from being beaten. Nada could hardly recognize him. She held her hand to her mouth as she knelt down to his body. She removed his glasses and gently slid her hand over the front of his face, closing his eyes. She saw a small audio clip sticking out of his pocket with the title "To Nada" written on the front of it in her father's handwriting. She quickly grabbed the clip and shoved it into her Pip-Boy, making sure to pay extra attention.

"_Hold on Jonas, I need to record this first._"

Nada's breath caught hopefully in her throat when she heard her father's voice. Maybe he was going to clear up this whole mess.

"_I... I don't really know how to tell you this. I hope you'll understand, but I know you might be angry. I thought about it for a long time, but in the end I decided it was best for you not to know. So many things could have gone wrong and there's really no telling how the Overseer will react when he finds out. It's best if he can blame everything on me. Obviously you already know that I'm gone. It was something I needed to do. You're an adult now. You're ready to be on your own. Maybe someday things will change and we can see each other again. I can't tell you why I left or where I'm going. I don't want you to follow me. God knows life in the vault isn't perfect, but at least you'll be safe. Just knowing that will be enough to keep me going._"

She heard Jonas' voice in the background, "_Don't mean to rush you, Doc, but I'd feel better if we got this over with._"

"_Okay. Go ahead. Goodbye. I love you._"

Nada stared hopelessly down at her Pip-Boy. How was this supposed to make her feel content? Surely he knew that she wouldn't be completely ignored in all of this. Someone had to be punished, and her father was gone so that naturally left Nada to be the scapegoat.

Nada's thoughts were interrupted by a loud sob in the next room. She slowly walked into the living room of the Overseer's apartment, where Amata was sitting at the table with her head in her hands. Nada sat down across from her and held Amata's hand in her own.

"I killed him, Nada…" Amata sobbed, "I was scared. He was going to hurt me. So, I killed him."

"It's okay, Amata," Nada reassured her, caressing Amata's hand with her thumb. "You did what you had to."

They sat there like that for a few more minutes. Nada lifted up a finger and started twirling her hair. She had to leave soon. She got up and walked over to the Overseer's office door. After a few bobby pins were broken, she got the door open. She walked into the office and quickly checked the lockers in the corner of the room. The only useful thing she found was the terminal password, which was "Amata". The Overseer did still love his daughter, after all.

She hacked into the Overseer's terminal and began reading up on the information she found. Apparently, there was still civilization on the outside, evident by a town called Megaton. Also, there were many terrifying creatures that wondered the Wasteland, much bigger than the harmless radroach. Nada plugged her Pip-Boy into the terminal and downloaded all of the files for future reading. She then activated the secret tunnel entrance. At first Nada was surprised when she felt the ground beneath her shake uncontrollably. She quickly stepped to the side and watched as the desk lifted up from the ground.

She walked down the stairs, making sure to close the tunnel behind her. She dispatched all of the radroaches along the way while she quickly jogged to the vault's entrance. She stared at the big cog door. She didn't know exactly why she was so scared. She was getting exactly what she'd always wanted, freedom. Perhaps, it was the thought that nothing was ever going to be the same again. Or the fact that she was going out into the unknown. Either way, she had to leave no matter what.

She walked over to the vault's console and pulled down on the lever. The great cog screeched in protest as it was being forced open for the second time that day. Nada was so caught up in the vault's opening that she didn't notice Amata standing behind her. Their eyes connected and they looked at each other sadly.

"You opened the vault," Amata said, sadly.

Nada placed her hands on Amata's shoulders and smiled hopefully, "I'm sure we'll see each other again."

Amata didn't return her smile but placed a hand over Nada's, "Stay safe out there, Nada. I'll never forget you."

Just then, two security officers broke through the door and pushed Amata out of the way. Nada quickly shoved passed them and ran as fast as she could past the cog, not bothering to notice that the guards weren't following her. She turned around confused, only to be horrified that the door to Vault 101 was being closed. Another screech rang out through the cave walls as the cog was being shut for the final time.

After the cog had shut, there was complete silence. Now, there was no turning back for Nada. Nada turned back around and looked at the wooden door in front of her. She held her hand out, the light catching and reflecting off of her pale skin, making it look like it was glowing.

She opened the door and was instantly blinded by sunlight.

Nothing will ever be the same.


End file.
